Symbolically Speaking
When I start talking about literary devices in my writing classes, the discussion inevitably comes around […]
I Gotta Be Me!
Character agency refers to a character’s ability to make decisions that affect the outcome of a […]
Who’s Your Protag?
If you’re writing a book with multiple viewpoints, sometimes it can be confusing to figure out […]
Narrative as Interpreter in Fiction Writing
When we’re talking fiction writing, what really is narrative? It’s everything that isn’t action and isn’t […]
Well, I wasn’t expecting THAT!
This whole month, I want to talk about the relationship between writing and reading. I’ve talked […]
Freytag’s Pyramid
In 1863 Gustov Freytag, first known as a playwright and later a novelist, published Die Technik […]
Well, Darlings, You’re Weighing Us Down . . .
“Kill your darlings, kill your darlings, even when it breaks your egocentric little scribbler’s heart, kill […]
But I never got to . . .
I’m a big believer in the promises-made-to-your-reader philosophy of writing. It’s the idea that readers file […]
This Thing’s Important, Right?
One of my favorite books from the Children’s Lit classes I took in college was Treasure […]
Villain Under Construction: Villain Arcs
We’ve been talking character arcs at SNW, so I wanted to bring out once special kind […]